NNPC explains drop in gas supply

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said that the drop in power generation could have been triggered by the continuous rejection of load by the distribution companies due to frequency management.

The corporation disclosed this in a statement signed by Mr Ndu Ughamadu, the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, on Wednesday in Abuja.

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Ughamadu said that power generation dropped by 712MW on Aug. 13, compared to the previous day’s generation, adding that output from all the Hydro Power Plants and some gas-fired stations, including Egbin in Lagos, suffered decline.

“The prevailing significant drop in power generation was mainly due to three factors namely: a reduction in power generation by the three Hydro Power Plants by 434MW due to frequency management issues arising from continuous rejection of load by the Discos.

“Also, a drop in power generation by some gas fired power plants generation by 278MW mainly due to frequency management as a result of rejection of load by Discos; and the shut-down of the Gbarain Power Plant due to a trip-off at the Alaoji/Owerri 132KV lines 1 and 2.’’

He reassured Nigerians of the availability of enough gas for power generation, noting that the recent drop in electricity generation was as a result of some factors outside NNPC’s control.

He said that NNPC, as critical partners in the electricity generation matrix, was willing to work with other stakeholders to resolve the temporary setback in line with the Federal Government’s aspiration for the power sector.

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He further said that in spite of improved gas supply which picked up after a temporary setback due to a hitch at one of its Joint Venture partners’ operated fields, the gas grid was still experiencing low off take by the generating companies (Gencos).

It explained that power evacuation still remained a major challenge across the value chain with an average of 1800MW unutilized generation capacity weekly due to frequency management and line constraints.

“There is an urgent need to fix the challenges with power evacuation for significant improvement in power generation across the nation,” Ughamadu said.